In November 1939, NBC's fledgling television station W2XBS broadcast the first known holiday special,
The Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade
. Despite its small viewership (very few TV sets existed at the time), the experimental telecast was a harbinger of a now-beloved American tradition: the holiday television special.
This book offers a thorough account of holiday television specials in the United States from 1939 to 2021, highlighting variety shows, comedic performances, musical spectaculars and more. From familiar favorites (1964's
Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer
) to campy one-offs (1985's
He-Man and She-Ra: A Christmas Special
), the 1140 programs are covered alphabetically and feature performance casts, production credits and storylines for each. Three appendices cover "lost" holiday specials, along with Christmas and Halloween-themed episodes of popular television series.